The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-07-21
Sunday-SchooI Lessons.
SPIRITUAL DESIRES,
THIRD QUARTER.

SPIRITUAL DESIRES.
The Necessity, the Presidency and the
Uplifting Tendency of Mans Religious
LonginGs
If history settles anything whatever,
1t is that man is Il religious being.
Moral and spiritual intuitions rise out
of his nature as spontaneously and in
cvitably as the instinct which guides
the bee in making honey, and compels
the beaver TO build its dam. "All
men," said Guizot. the great French
statesman and philosopher, pray
earnestly enough and naturally enough
TO an Invisible God for help when they
find themselves in trouble" This truth
was as admirably and eloquently
stated by Paul on Mars Hill in his
wonderful address to the sages OF
Athens. He explained how God had
made the world and all things therein,
and had appointed that men should
seek the Lord, if haply they might
feel after Him, and find Him, though
he be not far from every one of us.
So. too. in writing to the Romans, he
proceeds to demonstrate that the
heather are without excuse for not
serving God in better way,
because that which may be
known of God is manifest in
them; for God hath showed it
unto them. For the invisible things of
Tim from the creation OF the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made-even his eternal
power and Godhead.
But the point is that quite outside Of
the testimony of Revelation the sci
enlist and historian must acknowledge
the fact of the necessity, the persist
cncy and the uplifting tendency of
mans religious longings. This sub
ject is well treated in the current num-
Der of the Forum by Mr.. James T.
BiXby. The anti-rcli%iOus bigot, and
the speculator. determined to reason
himself if possible into atheism and its
wretched Indifference, may attempt to
ignore the very emphatic part-indecd
it is the most distinctive rs well as en-
phatic part-of human nature. which
forces the soul to cry out after God, the
living and prayer-hearing God, but true
science can not ignore it. Mr.. BiNby
expresses the just scientific idea here
as follows:
Facts are indeed what we must follow. hut
humps OF matter and vibratory motions, pressed
plants and ticl1eted beetles, are not the only
H.
iugs Of the human soul. from which religions
spring. are also facts, and good testimonies
and signs in determining truth as bug or polyp
is. Even in relation to a spider or bee state
ments in regard To their form. weight, color and
other material characteristics not the only
scientific points OF Importance. The naturalist
must record. as a matter of equal or greater
gravity their mental qualities. the tastes OF the
one for insect prey, of the other for honey; the
instinct OF the TO spin its webs, of the other
4 build and stock its cells the varied impulses
Tat move each in their different ways OF pro-
TIding for the perpetuation of their respective
species And so in regard TO man; knowledge
of his immaterial characteristics Is still more
essential TO full scientific knowledge OF him
than knowledge of his material qualities
Precisely! 1t is in these high yearn-
ings which lead man to build the sanct-
nary, to erect the altar. to brave ply
steal terrorS, to sacrifice all other
things-his very life included, for the
sake of Divine ideals that you must
look for the supreme characteristics
of man as distinguished from the brute
creation. Professor Tyndall himself
in his remarkable Belfast address in
advocacy of materialism. felt compelled
to give some account of these religious
emotions and aspirations, and with Gu
rious Inconsistency maintained that
provision must be made for them in
every scheme of civilization! Even
the State can not get along without the |
idea of God to satisfy religious de-
sires and institutions. Robespierre is |
quoted as saying to the French Jaco-
bins: IF there were no God in exist |
ence it would be necessary to the ma
tional well-being to invent one"
It is the conviction of an In |
finite Holy and Just Ruler to |
whom every living soul must hereafter
render an account of its conduct and
purposes that alone restraints men from |
utter brutality and annihilating crime,
and makes life toleraoie on this earth. !
Nor is this ALL 1t must be fairly in
ferred, as Mr.. Bixby and so many 9TH
ers have argued, that these subjective
yearnings of men in all ages and under
all civilizations imply an objective re-
ality corresponding to them. The in
stinct of the young fish in the river for
the sea implies the existence of tho
sea, the instinct of the stork in the
north for the warm and balmy airs of
the south implies the existence of a
south, and so the universal longings
and inevitable prayers of humanity for
and to an unseen Being who presides
over the world and its destinies imply
the existence of that Being. And
hence no arguments, however numer-
Gus and ingenious, which may be de-
Yised against God, and the nobility and